Interview with Mindy Misty by Kostakis Xatzigeorgiou for the music zine Metal Eagle (Greece).

Link to the interview in Greekhttp://www.metaleagle.com/el/synenteykseis/mindy-misty-temporary-flawless

English version (C) 2009 Metaleagle.com

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1) Ok first of all, many readers might not know the band. Introduce Mindy Misty and give us a short bio too.....

A1) Mindy Misty originated as a one piece in 2001. At that time the sole purpose was to contribute some tracks to Handmade Records first compilation Encephalopathia. One of the tracks called “Chicken Kitty” was an instrumental noise piece which would later inspire the name of the project.While recording the track at Roy and Kenneth’s childhood residence in Nittedal, a schizophrenic cat called Mindy Misty who lived next door was lurking outside the window. Like frequently before it decided to call on potential mates through a rather impressiveoperatic cacophony of demonic proportion. The whole rant was recorded on a Dictaphone,and it was used as the main vocal of the piece. Inevitably the contribution toEncephalopathia was released under the name Mindy Misty.

Two years later Kenneth, Roy and Trond’s then main bands Candy Coated and Tokyo Noise Revolution had split, so we decided to make a band of Mindy Misty and through a sound engineering school in Oslo we met and teamed up with metal drummer Sigve and recorded our debut 7” three weeks later.

2) When i firstlistened to Mindy Misty i was going through one of the ''nothing good comes outin music today'' phases. I was shocked by the amount of obscure influences itraced in your music. What shocked me the most though, was that you were from Norway. a country which i've never thought it could produce a band sounding like this. First of all, how did you pick this kind of music over there and secondly, is there a vibrant scene we should know about?....

A2) Three of us grew up together in Nittedal at the outskirts of Oslo and weused to travel into the city every weekend and buy records at the local recordstores. Mostly at Tiger and Big Dipper which still is our favorite Record stores here today. It was the early and mid 90ies and we’d hamster all the K stuff, T&G, Sub Pop, Domino, Matador, SST, KRS etc. It was an all you can afford buffe I guess. So availability was nevera problem, if it ever was we’d just order through mail orders and wait patiently. Sigve lived in Bergen and was heavily into the black metal scene then and in retrospect we all had quite a few crossover influences despite our different upbringingThese days we all draw inspiration from a wide variety of genres and undoubtedly also from the vibrant scene here in Oslo, All of us play in different projects as well – Trond in Laconic Zero and Next Life, Roy in Star Bug and Kenneth in Izakaya Heartbeat and also in Star Bug. We would definitively recommend bands like Europ Europ, Far From Tellus, Le Corbeau,Arabrot, Meadows and IO, Donjon doxy, Magnus Moriarty, Now We’ve got Members,the whole Metronomicon crew, Fysisk Format, Synesthetic Recordings, and also a lot of visual and conceptual artists like Monica Fosser, Christian Blandhoel, Linda Baardsen, OEP and many more. ....

If you browse through our friends pages on myspace you’ll find links to loads of great Norwegian bands.

3) Another great thing was Protoplasma's guitars! They 're perfectly recorded, soundingunmistakable, and the feeling i get is that the interraction between the guitarists is ideal. I'm not gonna ask you if it was a bummer recording them, instead, i'll ask you if there are any guitarists that were kind of influential in your playing.....

A3) We recorded Protoplasma live in the studio with no essential overdubs other than the vocals and didn’t cut n’ paste like in many contemporary recordings, so yeah It was a hassle to some degree to get the right takes but you could argue that’s exactly why the different instruments intertwine naturally to. We like to record that way to keep the dynamics incontext with how we sound as a band as opposed to individual instrumentalists. There’s a bunch of guitarists we’ve been inspired by but mainly we try to make the most of the potential idea and differentiate the guitar parts rather than echoing each others riffs. Sometimes we’ll curse the intricacy of our own creation, (or ability rather) but we like to keep it as a challenge without basing anything on pure technicality.

4) I really likedthe promotional video of Smirk. How did you get in touch with the guys who madeit and are there any cool trivias behind these cool superhero stuff?....

A4) We’ve known the director Dag Sølvberg for many years and some of us even acted in his first film Oak Trees, a 90ies indiependent film of his with music by Lee Ranaldo’s East Jesus. Dag has since founded HEX film wh - Metal Eagle/Kostakis Xatzigeorgiou

Link to site http://www.w-fenec.org/rock/mindy-misty,5331,mindy-misty-vs-europ-europ.html - W-Fenec by David Vanuxem

''That's pretty crazy! Norwegians that play the best American-like indie rock globally at the moment. I mean, are we talking about the same North Europeans? The ones with the Fjords and Vikings as their ancestors? I honestly can't understand that...

Having received their debut full length (AT LAST) i don't give a damn either. Ok, to sum it all up, Mindy Misty grab the whole U.S. indie scene, and create a record, that even though it's quite new, looks straght in the eye and rivals all previous masterpieces (daydream nation, you're living all over me, let it be, vs, slanted and enchanted, jamboree, sebadoh III, atomizer, repeater, locust abortion technician, spiderland to name a few). Without any actual competition from the rest of the -tired from useless experimentations & shiny covers- scene, they add their own spice to the genre doing something extraordinary. Yes people, this is a true masterpiece.

I first took notice of Handmade records two years ago, when i realized they had released a solo album from Eric Gaffney (Sebadoh). I was stunned by their eclectic taste but also... by their expensive prices (that's a common phenomenon in Norway btw). Years had to pass (plus a failed sending of promotional material -damn you postal services!!!-), to see their work, as well as other handmade's bands such as star bug, being sold at cdbaby for approximately ten euros! (Note that prices are low at the label's store as well now)

I've read somewhere that this album is perfect for fans of Superchunk, Silkworm, dinosaur jr and generally bands with a 100% guitar-centred approach. I would broaden this conclusion saying that this is a must buy for everyone that claims to have a taste in music. It even works perfectly for someone who wants to learn more about the scene since somebody can find 25 years of history in 38 minutes of music! Ok, i could even broadcast the whole album now, Do you want me to? Let's start!

Nothing like a spree starts with a powerfull and almost mathematic riff to make it's way into a perfect early Dinosaur-ish(jr is not missing by mistake) refrain! Dead End will remind you of the great Built to Spill with vocals that sound a lot like Doug Martsch. The last minute of the song is really a magical extention! Smirk being the perfect single, combines past and present and its melancolic atmosphere is great, being followed by this Sonic Youth-like attack! But wait because Wasteland's next! Even though it starts softly it's finalle is mind blowing! It tears down half of Matador's back catalogue for christ's sake! Next, is the instrumental track of the album. Moist odyssey has got an artsy feeling to it, without any predictable post-rock structures and bearing in mind Polvo's first 7'' (Vibracobra). Oh, the guitars are perfectly tuned, just in case you think i imply something else. Phonic Perversion and post-hardcore! A lost Arcwelder's gem? Indefatigable brings a strange fusion of Sebadoh and Tsunami to mind and the follow up, Green Wood, is -at last- a kind of a ''happy'' song in comparison with the gloomy tendencies the rest of the album has. But that's up till 1:50, because afterwards the song could make Sonic Youth realize that their best period was the agressive and noisy one! And when you're just about to assume that things are becoming kind of more cheerful now ''Concrete Strip'' blasts as a bomb, being the saddest song on the whole album. Pure melancholy but not in a conventional whining way! And finally, Guinea pig, a (succesful) noise rock experiment that bears influences from obscure acts of the past!

Ok, have you read the final paragraph now? Ignore it! After having listened to the album, over and over again in an almost sadistic kind of way, i reach the safe conclusion that after a GREAT record such as this (we'll just have to see if they can produce a strong follow up to assume more), Mindy Misty sound like everything and nothing you have listened to in the past. With a personal sound and songs that reveal their true potentials in way that an enigmatic painting will demand your full attention to realize it's hidden meaning, Protoplasma is a real treat and holds a lot of promises for the future!'' - By Kostakis xatzigeorgiou

Rating 9 /10 By Joe Hartlaub

Mindy Misty is from Oslo, Norway which means they speak English better than your average 17 year old from Akron. Their debut full length, PROTOPLASMA, is better than a lot of the crap you're listening to right now, too, like Arca…well, never mind, but this is a great CD, one where the band actually employs a sense of dynamics and uses it to great effect.

That having been said, the opening track, “Nothing Like A Spree,” almost gave me pause within the first 30 seconds or so, but gradually began to right itself. Similarly, “Moist Odyssey” (gee, I wonder what that might be about?) starts off a bit oddly then seems to merge into a bridge built upon the coda to Love’s “7 and 7 Is.” In fact, you really have to listen to PROTOPLASMA, rather than skipping through the first 30 seconds of each track before you make up your mind about whether you're going to lay down the goods for it (those of you who still lay down the good for your music, that is). Some of the tracks on PROTOPLASMA sound like they're going to be instrumentals and then vocals come in, and others sound like they're going to be straight-ahead guitar drum and vocal tracks and they're instrumental (the aforementioned “Moist Odyssey” (gee, I love that title…hehhehheh…he said “moist”). “Phonic Perversion” sounds like an instrumental where Mindy Misty thought of some vocals at the last minute and started shouting them out. It’s great. The thing has kind of a feel to it like Television without the heroin. “Indefatigable” (I've been mispronouncing this word for a long time, no wonder people keep picking fights with me!) is just that, a great, great track that sounds like a few different songs rolled into one, and “Green Wood” is maybe the closest thing to a pop song on the entire disc, and it sounds like GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH ROPE - era Clash. Wow.

Every time I walk into a campus record store, I don't care what city I'm in, there is something like PROTOPLASMA playing on the sound system, really loud and really good, and it’s always by some band I've never heard of that it turns out has six or seven CDs out so that the clerk has to educate the old guy. This time I know who it is. It’s Mindy Misty and the CD is PROTOPLASMA. And now you know, too. - Music Reviewer New York

Protoplasma is the first full-length record from Norwegian post-rockers Mindy Misty, and it exhibits just the kind of complex, labyrinthine sonic disturbance that we&#65533;ve come to expect from Scandinavian indie artists.

Produced by Mark Kramer (renowned for his production work with Ween, Lou Reed and many others), the album is a ten-track odyssey, traveling through psychedelia, lo-fi pop, and early 90&#65533;s shoegaze reminiscent of Pavement or Sonic Youth. Tracks like Smirk and Indefatigable are a good starting point, easing the listener into Mindy Misty&#65533;s dark soundscape while maintaining a certain brand of accessible pop-rock. From there, you are drawn to the darker, twisting sound exhibited in tracks like Wasteland and Guinea Pig, which utilise one repeated sonic motif and elaborate on it, in the style of post-rock pioneers such as Slint. The vocal style is not too acrobatic, and sticks to the more subdued end of the spectrum, with lyrics that flirt with the surreal.

If your most disturbing dreams were woven into a soundtrack, it may just end up sounding a little like Protoplasma. - Rockus Australia by Alexis Cured

Mindy Misty and Europ Europ are both bands from the underground, albeit with somedifferent starting points, but with the same view to the stars.I know best of Mindy Mistys young stoned, melody-friendly pop(cited by Kenneth Amundsen who also runs the fine, small record company Handmade). Europ Europ, I have no particular knowledge of them, they have their background from Köln, have a more avant approach to musicand referred to by Handmade as "noise-draped neopop". Boththe melodic aims and the more outrages sides, will beexpressed here, boiled together to a proper scruffy, clamorous, and far outaffair spread over 10 tracks.

The collaboration record Mindy Misty vs.Europ Europ covers much of the greats from American underground rock, be it Buttholes manicmadness, or Sonic Youth dissonante turn-around ( in Force Feed it sounds likeKim Gordon is floating in the background). This gives the opinion that the "fox" Kramerhas had the final touches on the sound, his background in greats like Bong Water,B.A.L.L. and precisely Butthole Surfers provides the basis for a good understanding of Mindy Misty and Europ Europs plan. They are still not completelyincestious, and sources will be more noticeable in the form of inspiration than purecopy need. Trim, hardly bearing vocals (a hint of Residents,or?), angry guitars and lurched rhythms. At times it is notso far away from Årabrot , but with more hints of psychedelicthoughts in both the one and the other way. I would particularly recommend the sevenminutes bitter man and tenacious as tar,No-One, as a highlight. Also the insult "ballad" Last Song for You, a nervous duet with screamy metal sounds in the background. On the other hand,blindpaths like Fluid Transport Factory and Girls on Earth. The latter iscredited to Duran Duran, maybe a mishmash of Girls on film andPlanet Earth?

Not the entire disc show teeth, but I stretch it to 5 out of 7 here. I like this disc a great deal, it has in a bizarreway attached itself to my mind and will not let go.. Proper scruffy, propercoarse and always far out - or as the publisher says:"Outrages noise roleplay with danceable pop-aesthetics."

Just to grab hold of this little gem gives me a good feeling, a massive slab of black vinyl that must clock in at 100 grams, around the double of an ordinary vinyl single. Combine that with a thick cover in delicate black and red, and I'm almost sold even before the needle hits the fan. When it does it's back to the early 90ties time, post grunge fuzzpop that crawls in the darker corner of the mind. Makes me for some reason want to bring out my Girls vs Boys or Arcwelder singles again. It's been a long time since last time... Anyone remember Cell? With perfect singles like Stratosphere or Cross the River, but still largely forgotten today. Maybe Mindy Misty can bring about a renewed interest for those bands, and even make their own mark on this legacy.

And to sum up this four song EP: The first track on each side are powerful and melodic songs, where the band obviously feels at home. The second song on the first side - "Strike n' retreat" is a short instrumental where I kind of lost interest after the fifth change in tempo, probably nice enough if thats your thing. The last song an the EP must be an internal joke that I didn't get. Maybe just do an ordinary single next time, that way you can keep it on 45 rpm and get the dynamics this kind of music needs.

Named after a manic depressive cat ; the Oslo based Indie rock group Mindy Misty suggested a variety in musical expressions from the start. Their first two tracks released on Handmade Records compilation Encephalopathia (2001) were total opposites from a noise collage Chicken Kitty to the melodic indie track Made in Russia. Self releasing their own debut EP Temporary, Flawless (2003) and their following album Protoplasma in 2006 they received quite a few favorable reviews from far corners of the globe. Working with Kramer from Butthole Surfers and B.A.L.L as engineer gave its share of obvious attention though some critics described the music as:

About Generic Communion 2010.

"If you (like us) loved all the cool underground guitar-driven American rock bands in the mid to late 1990s...there's a good chance you will go totally apeshit over Generic Communion."-Baby Sue (Top Pick)

"They've got tons of thick Sonic Youth-esque harmonies and when they combine it with that oh-so-Scandinavian sense of melody, they can't lose. Give me slightly buried vocals and a hard-driving rhythm section on top of that and I'm sold. Easy and done! So if you dig KVLR, early Motorpsycho, Unwound,Dinosaur Jr., etc etc... you will be into this. And you should" - Avi Roig (It's a Trap)

About Protoplasma.

Norwegians that play the best American-like indie rock globally at the moment 25 years of history in 38 minutes of music!It tears down half of Matador's back catalogue for christ's sake!  Metal Eagle Greece.

If your most disturbing dreams were woven into a soundtrack, it may just end up sounding a little like Protoplasma.  Rockus (Australia)

Wow.  MusicReviewer (New York. US) 9 out of 10

My highlight of the year!  rockeweb (Norway) 6 out of 6

Gaining more live shows and even a modest amount of airplay the band was picked up by Chinese label October Party which re-released Protoplasma in China. In 2008 Mindy Misty toured 9 cities in China to promote the record and are still arguably one of few western DIY bands to tour in the republic.

Their next album would be a surprisingly different approach. Teaming up with neo-noisers Europ Europ.In 2009 The two bands combined, released a self titled LP/CD Mindy Misty vs. Europ Europ Featuring severely more experimental tracks. Critics described the album as:

About Mindy Misty vs Europ Europ.

This constructive hybrid creates an acoustic friction, that I could imagine calling harmonic noise in the intersection between The Residents, Butthole Surfers, Bardo Pond, and Sonic Youth. Rockeweb Norway 5 out of 6

I get a somewhat similar mood when listening to this as when I see films of David Lynch. Musiq.no Norway

Mindy Misty have toured in Norway, Europe and China, played with genre antonyms Ace of Base to inspirators Trumans Water and contributed to lots of obscure compilations alongside their own releases.

In 2010 Mindy Misty will release a new full-length album and will also release more tracks on different 7 inches. An album collaboration with artist Christian Blandhoel is also on the brink of realization - Improvising on Blandhoels heavily modified guitars.

Members of Mindy Misty also frequents in constellations such as Next Life, Star Bug and Izakaya Heartbeat.